Twist wire guide assembly



July 11, 1967 J. T. GELARDI 3,33

TWIST WIRE GUIDE ASSEMBLY Filed Oct. 28. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f mlmmmw FlCllA INVENTOP JCLSEPH T- GELARDI I ATTORNEYS.

y 1967 J. T. GELARDI TWIST WIRE GUIDE ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 28, 1965 I a m 0 5 TL N NE R 6 o 7 VI 7 m A QWE -u Q mm mm nm N\ l Q\ 7 i! T @E? v m6 T- km A mm ww United States Patent 3,330,603 TWIST WIRE GUIDE ASSEMBLY Joseph T. Gelardi, Yonkers, N.Y., assignor to American Technical Machinery Corporation, Mount Vernon, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 505,507 6 Claims. (Cl. 300-2) This invention relates to a brush making machine and, in particular, to a pre-twist wire guide assembly.

It is known to produce twisted wire brushes by depositing bristles between a pair of wires and locking the bristles in place by imparting a twist to the wires. In US. Patent No. 3,160,440 granted to applicant on Dec. 8, 1964, a continuous brush wire twisting and feeding mechanism for brush making machines is disclosed comprising a rotatable hollow member adapted to receive and pass through it a brush body, the hollow body having within it means for imparting a twist to the brush body by applying a force couple to the bristles supported between the wires as the hollow body rotates. The bristles are fed to and between the wires prior to entry into the hollow body, the bristles being deposited between the wires as the wires are fed between a pair of grooved feeding jaws located at a bristle discharge station. The grooved jaws act as twist-reacting means. Thus, as the bristle-laden wires enter the aforementioned hollow body, a twist is continuously applied to the wires to lock the bristles in place, the twist extending back to and terminating at the jaws.

It has been observed that most twist-reacting means, because of their construction, tend to cause damage to the bristles during the twisting cycle because of the tendency of the extending bristles to strike portions of the twistreacting means during the initial stage of the twisting.

It is thus the object of this invention to provide a pretwist wire guide assembly adapted to support and pass therethrough bristle-laden wires while serving as an improved twist-reacting means.

Another object is to provide a twist-reacting means adapted to enable bristle-laden wires to be twisted while minimizing damage to the bristles during the initial stage of the twisting.

These and other objects will more clearly appear when taken in conjunction with the following disclosure and the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts in elevation one embodiment of the twist-reacting means provided by the invention comprising a pair of rotatably mounted peripherally grooved wheels axially oriented relative to the axis of the wires passing between the wheels;

FIG. 1A is representative of a helical path traversed by bristles during the twisting of a wire brush product;

FIG. 2 shows somewhat diagrammatically the relationship of the feeding and twist-reacting means with one embodiment of a twisting means;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section of the twisting means of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is illustrative of the twist-reacting means of the invention showing the two grooved rollers assembled on a bracket support;

FIG. 5 is a crosssection of one of the grooved wheels and its mounting taken along line 55; and

FIG. 6 shows a complete brush making machine including the feeding and twist-reacting means of the invention starting with a bristle feeding station and ending with a twisting means and means for cutting the twisted wire body.

According to my invention, I provide a feeding and twist-reacting means in the form of a pair of peripherally grooved rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to that of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of the rollers, the distance between the grooves being such as to accommodate the thickness of the two wires and the thickness of the bristles held therebetween. The plane of the rollers is axially oriented about the axis of the wires passing between the rollers so as to form an angle, for example, an angle of approximately 45, with a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the wires. In other words, I find that by orienting the plane of the rollers at an angle corresponding broadly to the helical pitch generated by the bristles during the twisting of the wires, a clearance angle is provided which enables the bristle-laden wires to be twisted with mini- I mum damage to the bristles during the initial stage of twisting.

Referring to FIG. 1, a pair of rollers 10 and 11 is shown peripherally grooved at 12 and 13, with the rollers lying substantially in the same plane oriented or disposed at angle A to the horizontal axis XX passing through the longitudinal axis of wires 14 and 15. Although the plane of the two rollers is disposed at an angle A to the horizontal axis X-X, their peripheries are adjacent to each other so as to provide sufficient clearance between the grooves to accommodate the thickness of the two wires and that of the bristle or bristles 16 held and supported between them. It will be noted that by orienting the plane of the rollers at an angle A with the horizontal axis, a large clearance angle B of over is provided which is the difference between 180 and angle A. Assuming angle A to be 45, then the clearance angle would be As wires 14, 15 with bristles 16 held therebetween pass between the rollers as shown in FIG. 1 and are subjected to twist by means not shown forward of the rollers, the ends C and D will start to rotate in a clockwise direction as shown, that is in the direction of the large clearance angle. As the wire product is twisted, the bristles traverse a helical path, the end D of the bristles sweeping through about 135 of the helix as shown in FIG. 1A, assuming an orientation angle of 45 for the rollers. Thus, as the bristle-laden wires twist through the first part of the helix (FIG. 1A) while passing between the rollers, the bristles are enabled to sweep by the faces of the rollers with a minimum of damage. The twisted wire product 17 is shown emerging from the exit end of the rollers, the view of the emerging wires having been exaggerated for purposes of clarity. Advantageously, the orientation angle of the plane of the rollers may range from about 30 to 60 to give a clearance angle for the bristles ranging from about to 120.

While it is stated that the rollers lie in substantially the same plane, it will be appreciated that they may be slightly displaced relative to each other and still be considered to lie substantially in the same plane for the purposes of this invention. For example, referring to FIG. 1, it will be noted that while the peripheries of the rollers are adjacent each other to provide a passageway for the bristle-laden wires, the grooves of the rollers are slightly displaced in parallel planes so that wire strands 14 and 15 are vertically disposed one above the other, the grooves having substantially the same diameter as the respective wires in contact with them. In order to insure substantially horizontal support of the wires between the rollers (that is so the bristles are unencumbered by the rollers), the opposite side faces of the rollers are edge bevelled at 20 and 21.

Referring to FIG. 2, a perspective view is depicted showing the rollers aligned with a twisting station of the type illustrated and described in my US. Patent No. 3,160,440, it being understood that any means for twisting the wires to lock the bristles in place may be used. Wires 14 and 15 are shown with bristles 16 held and supported therebetween passing between rollers 10 and 11. The bristle-laden wires then pass through the twisting station designated generally by the numeral 25, the station being formed of a rotatable hollow body 26 having an annular driven gear 27 coaxially mounted about its periphery in meshing engagement with a driving gear 28. The rotatable hollow body has within it means for imparting a twist to the wires by applying a force couple to the bristles held between the wires to form the brush body 29 emerging from the twisting station.

The interior structure of the twisting station is depicted in FIG. 3 which shows force applying rods 30 and 31 mounted within the cylinder via legs anchored to the internal wall of the cylinder. As the cylinder rotates, the rods contact the bristles and apply a force couple, thereby causing the wires to twist about each other.

A more detailed construction of the pre-twist wire guide assembly is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, the rollers and 11 are shown oriented at approximately 45 to horizontal axis XX. Roller 10 is rotatably mounted via ball bearings and a stub shaft to upper wire guide roller bracket 32 having a leg 33 offset therefrom by an angle of about 45 with the horizontal axis, the shaft of the roller passing through leg 33 and being end threaded to receive locking nut 34. Roller bracket 32 is fastened to upper wire guide roller slide by means of a pin 36 having a head 37. Roller 10 has a cover cap '38 to prevent dirt from entering the bearing.

The upper wire guide roller slide has a pair of slots 39, 40 to enable the roller slide to be fastened at a desired setting to wire guide support 41 which in turn is fastened to a mounting bracket 42.

Similarly roller 11 is mounted via a stub shaft to lower wire guide roller bracket 44 which in turn is fastened to wire guide support 41 and thence to mounting bracket 42. The grooves 12, 13 of the rolls are depicted in relative position to each other as in FIG. 1, wires 14 and being shown with bristle 16 held and supported by and between them.

The internal construction of the rollers is shown in FIG. 5 which is a cross section of roller 11 taken along line 55 of FIG. 4. The roller is hollow and has mounted within it a ball bearing 45 through which stub shaft 43 passes, the shaft snugly fitting into recessed lower wire guide roller bracket 44. An annular spacer 46 is provided surrounding the stub shaft between the end of roller bracket 44 and bearing 45. A cover cap 38 is mounted over the head 48 of stub shaft 43 to prevent dirt from entering the bearing, a retaining ring 47 being also provided mounted in an annular groove within the internal wall of the roller.

FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a complete brush making machine using the novel pre-twist wire guide assembly of the invention. Continuous wires 14 and 15 are preferably, although not necessarily, driven from storage reels (not shown) to friction drive wheels 50 and 51 which are rotated by means not shown in synchronism with each other to produce a desired feed rate. The friction drive wheels are pressed against their respective wires, the wires being supported by idler wheels 52 and 53. The wires are delivered to a bristle feeding station where the bristles are fed between the wires 14 and 15 and held in place between them by one wire bearing against the other.

The means shown for feeding the bristles between the wires is only illustrative, it being understood that any method of feeding may be employed in carrying out the objects of the invention. Referring to FIG. 6, suitable bristles 16 are stored in hopper 54, which may be gravity fed as shown but which may preferably include means not shown for applying a feed force to the bristles therein, The bristles are removed from the hopper by a rotating picker wheel 55 which is relatively wide in its axial dimension and which contains a picker slot 56 cut into the periphery thereof. Picker slot 56 may be fixed with an adjustable bottom which can be raised or lowered to change the bristle capacity of the slot.

As the picker wheel dumps bristles on the inclined portion of a bristle guide surface 57, a dual pin wheel 59 whose symmetrical wheel members are arranged to overlap a portion of picker wheel 55 then picks up the bristles and brings them to a lower portion 58 for depositing between the wires at 58a just before they enter the grooved peripheries of pre-twist rollers 10 and 11. The bristleladen wires are then delivered to twisting station 60 where a twisting force is applied to the wires as described hereinbefore. The twisted wire brush then passes to a cutting station 61 shown diagrammatically by knives 62 and 63.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of the invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims, in which the word brush is defined to mean any brush-like article or structure, the word bristle to mean any relatively short transverse member, however soft, the word wire to mean any relatively long twistable member, however rigid, and the words brush body to mean a plurality of wires having bristles spaced thereinbetween, whether twisted or untwisted.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a brush making machine in which brush bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, a pre-twist wire guide assembly comprising, first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, and means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires sufficient to provide a clearance angle for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires.

2. In a brush making machine in which bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, a pre-twist wire guide assembly comprising, first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, and means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires to provide a clearance angle of over for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires.

3. In a brush making machine in which brush bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristl s in place, a pre-twist wire guide assembly comprising, first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying subssantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, and

means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires ranging from about 30 to 60 to provide a clearance angle of about 150 to 120 for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires.

4. In a brush making machine in which brush bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, the combination comprising means for storing bristles, means for discharging said bristles to a bristle and wire feeding station, means for delivering wire to said feeding station, a pre-twist wire guide assembly following said feeding station, said wire guide assembly comprising first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires to provide a clearance angle for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires, and means for twisting the 'wires as they pass through the wire guide assembly.

5. In a brush making machine in which brush bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wires subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, the combination comprising, means for storing bristles, means for discharging said bristles to a bristle and wire feeding station, means for delivering wire to said feeding station, a pre-twist wire guide assem bly following said feeding station, said wire guide assembly comprising first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires to provide a clearance angle over for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires, and means for twisting the wires as they pass through the wire guide assembly.

6. In a brush making machine in which bristles are deposited between a pair of wires and the wire subsequently twisted about each other to lock the bristles in place, the combination comprising, means for storing bristles, means for discharging said bristles to a bristle and wire feeding station, means for delivering wire to said feeding station, a pretwist wire guide assembly following said feeding station, said wire guide assembly comprising first and second rotatably mounted peripherally grooved rollers, said rollers lying substantially in the same plane with the periphery of one roller adjacent to the periphery of the other so that a pair of wires with bristles held and supported therebetween can be passed between and in contact with the respective grooves of said rollers, means for supporting said rotatably mounted rollers with the plane of said rollers axially disposed about the longitudinal axis of the entering wires at an angle with the horizontal axis of the wires ranging from 30 to 60 to provide a clearance angle of about 150 to for the bristles during the helical twisting of the wires, and means for twisting the wires as they pass through the wire guide assembly.

No references cited.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A BRUSH MAKING MACHINE IN WHICH BRUSH BRISTLES ARE DEPOSITED BETWEEN A PAIR OF WIRES AND THE WIRES SUBSEQUENTLY TWISTED ABOUT EACH TO LOCK THE BRISTLES IN PLACE, A PRE-TWIST WIRE GUIDE ASSEMBLY COMPRISING, FIRST AND SECOND ROTATABLY MOUNTED PERIPHERALLY GROOVED ROLLERS, SAID ROLLERS LYING SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE SAME PLANE WITH THE PERIPHERY OF ONE ROLLER ADJACENT TO THE PERIPHERY OF THE OTHER SO THAT A PAIR OF WIRES WITH BRISTLES HELD AND SUPPORTED THEREBETWEEN CAN BE PASSED BETWEEN AND IN CONTACT WITH THE RESPECTIVE GROOVES OF SAID ROLLERS, AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROTATABLY MOUNTED ROLLERS WITH THE PLANE OF SAID ROLLERS AXIALLY DISPOSED ABOUT THE LONGITUDINAL AXIS OF THE ENTERING WIRES AT AN ANGLE WITH THE HORIZONTAL AXIS OF THE WIRES SUFFICIENT TO PROVIDE A CLEARANCE ANGLE FOR THE BRISTLES DURING THE HELICAL TWISTING OF THE WIRES. 